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January 25, 2010

Notice of Availability of the Revised Minerals Management Service Documentation of Section 106 Finding of Adverse Effect (Revised Finding) for the Proposed Cape Wind Energy Project Located on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in Nantucket Sound

SUMMARY: The MMS has prepared a revised version of its Section 106
Finding of Adverse Effect document related to the proposed Cape Wind
Energy Project pursuant to implementing regulations for Section 106 of
the National Historic Preservation Act (36 CFR Part 800). The original
Finding of Adverse Effect for this project was dated January 29, 2009.
The Finding of Adverse Effect is being revised in response to new
information that five additional properties within the Area of Adverse
Effect for the project have now been found to be eligible for inclusion
in the National Register of Historic Places.

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[Federal Register: January 25, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 15)]
[Notices]
[Page 3922]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25ja10-65]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service (MMS)
[Docket ID MMS-2010-OMM-0002]
Notice of Availability of the Revised Minerals Management Service
Documentation of Section 106 Finding of Adverse Effect (Revised
Finding) for the Proposed Cape Wind Energy Project Located on the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) in Nantucket Sound, and the Opportunity for
Public Comment
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: The MMS has prepared a revised version of its Section 106
Finding of Adverse Effect document related to the proposed Cape Wind
Energy Project pursuant to implementing regulations for Section 106 of
the National Historic Preservation Act (36 CFR Part 800). The original
Finding of Adverse Effect for this project was dated January 29, 2009.
The Finding of Adverse Effect is being revised in response to new
information that five additional properties within the Area of Adverse
Effect for the project have now been found to be eligible for inclusion
in the National Register of Historic Places.
DATES: The comment period for the Revised Finding document closes
February 12, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Poojan Tripathi, Minerals
Management Service, Cape Wind Project Manager, at (703) 787-1738.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Cape Wind Energy Project Description
In November 2001, Cape Wind Associates, LLC applied for a permit
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under the Rivers and
Harbors Act of 1899 to construct an offshore wind power facility on
Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts. Following the
adoption of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) and its associated
amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the
Department of the Interior was given statutory authority to issue
leases, easements, or rights-of-way for renewable energy projects on
the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Accordingly, Cape Wind Associates,
LLC, submitted an application to MMS in 2005 to construct, operate, and
eventually decommission an offshore wind power facility on Horseshoe
Shoal in Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts. The project calls for 130,
3.6 megawatt (MW) wind turbine generators, each with a
maximum blade height of 440 feet, to be arranged in a grid pattern in
25 square miles of Nantucket Sound, offshore of Cape Cod, Martha's
Vineyard, and Nantucket Island. With a maximum electric output of 468
megawatts and an average anticipated output of 182 megawatts, the
facility is projected to generate up to three quarters of the Cape and
Islands' electricity needs. Each of the 130 wind turbine generators
would generate electricity independently. Solid dielectric submarine
inner-array cables (33 kilovolt) from each wind turbine generator would
interconnect within the array and terminate on an electrical service
platform, which would serve as the common interconnection point for all
of the wind turbines. The proposed submarine transmission cable system
(115 kilovolt) from the electric service platform to the landfall
location in Yarmouth is approximately 12.5 miles in length (7.6 miles
of which falls within Massachusetts' territorial waters).
Nantucket Sound is a roughly triangular body of water generally
bound by Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island. Open bodies
of water include Vineyard Sound to the West and the Atlantic Ocean to
the East and the South. Nantucket Sound encompasses between 500-600
square miles of ocean, most of which lies in Federal waters. The Cape
Wind Energy Project would be located completely on the OCS in Federal
waters, aside from transmission cables running through Massachusetts
territorial waters ashore. For reference, the northernmost turbines
would be approximately 5.2 miles (8.4 km) from Point Gammon on the
mainland; the southernmost turbines would be approximately 11 miles
(17.7 km) from Nantucket Island (Great Point), and the westernmost
turbines would be approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the island of
Martha's Vineyard (Cape Poge).
ADDRESSES: The Revised Finding document can be accessed online at:
http://www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/CapeWind.htm. Comments on
the Revised Finding should be mailed or hand carried to the Minerals
Management Service, Attention: James F. Bennett, 381 Elden Street, Mail
Stop 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Envelopes or packages should
be marked ``Cape Wind Energy Project Revised Findings Document.'' The
MMS will also accept comments submitted electronically through the web
page at Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the
entry titled ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter docket ID MMS-2010-OMM-
0002, then click search. Under the tab ``View By Docket Folder'' you
can submit public comments for this Notice. The MMS will post all
comments.
Public Comment Procedures: Before including your address, phone
number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The MMS is making the Revised Finding available for public review
and comment. The written comments on the Revised Finding will be
reviewed and considered as part of the ongoing NHPA Section 106
consultation process, and in particular, MMS' effort to resolve these
adverse effects pursuant to 36 CFR subpart 800.6. The comment period
for the Revised Finding document closes February 12, 2010.
January 19, 2010.
Chris C. Oynes,
Associate Director for Offshore Energy and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 2010-1279 Filed 1-22-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P